Life is all about balance—or at the very least striving towards it.

School years are some of the most rewarding and enjoyable years of your life, however, keeping your academics a priority while simultaneously having time for a vibrant social life is a bit of a juggling act.

Thus here are some of the finest suggestions for balancing school and your social life:

Make a Schedule

It is hard to stay on track and organized without a schedule. This can be put in a student planner, on your wall or in your smartphone, but it MUST be maintained somewhere.

Start by scheduling your classes, then schedule certain study periods each week. By dedicating a certain time of day to studying, you’ll establish a habit that will help you remain on track with your classwork.

After you’ve established your class and study schedules, add in your extracurricular activities and your work (if you have one). It might be useful to color code your activities so that you can easily distinguish between the many sorts of activities you have going on.

Set Goals

Setting goals for yourself is a terrific method to get yourself in the correct attitude. Write out your academic goals at the start of each term. Set a goal and write it down, whether it’s a certain grade, better time management or something related to the curriculum.

Simply putting it down makes it more official and therefore more difficult to disregard. Posting your objectives somewhere you’ll see them every day–say, on your mirror or computer–will help you remember them and remain on track.

Surround Yourself with a Strong Support Network

The people you associate with may have a significant impact on all elements of your everyday life, even if you are unaware of it. Surrounding yourself with individuals who don’t support your decisions or don’t believe you can achieve them can swiftly and badly affect your performance.

Similarly, becoming friends with someone in your classroom who supports you in your decisions is a terrific strategy to stay on track. Having someone to turn to for assistance in difficult times or to vent about your least favorite subject goes a long way!

Get To Know Your Teachers

We’re sure you’ve heard it before but we can’t emphasize how important it is to get to know your teachers enough. Unfortunately, if you’re in a huge lecture class, your teacher may not even recognize you.

So go to their office hours and introduce yourself; ask them to meet after school hours to go over the course content; and if you’re having problems, ask for assistance.

Learn to say “No”

Being active in school is rather simple, even if it may not appear so at first. And if you’re active in a number of different clubs on school, it might quickly become too much. Using the tactics outlined above can help you manage the overwhelming parts of school life, but you will ultimately need to grasp the power of the word “no.”

Saying “no” to an event or volunteering with a group will cause you FOMO (fear of missing out) at first but it will grow easier. You’ll also be setting yourself up for better marks and everyone will understand if you can’t attend anything because you need to study–or make up for the sleep you missed studying after the previous event.

Wrapping Up

All in all, navigating the delicate balance between school and social life requires planning, goal setting and a strong support system. By adhering to the abovementioned points, students can successfully manage their academic responsibilities while enjoying a vibrant social life.